Allison Tartalia

[Fred]

As we know Vienna's music defies categorization, but there is a little group of female singer-songwriters whose music reflects classical piano training and a mix of jazz, folk, and pop influences and and has some affinity to Vienna's. I'm thinking of Tori of course, but also Regina Spektor, Rosie Thomas, Charlotte Martin, and a few others. Maybe you could even add Sara Bareilles to that group. Some are folkier, some poppier, some jazzier, but there's some commonality. I added another member of this group to my awareness today, Allison Tartalia. I saw her name on an ad for a show and followed up; to my pleasant surprise her piano-based music reminds me of Vienna's somewhere between WS and DTTN but jazzier. She also accompanies herself on acoustic guitar sometimes and I'm less enchanted by those songs. I see that she'll be at the Folk Music Society of Huntington next month (day before Vienna's Infinity Hall show), so I'll try to check her out. She's an odd choice for that group of mostly folk diehards to program, but I won't complain.

[Fred]

In my excitement over my weekend in Connecticut and the Infinity Hall show I forgot to follow up on this. I saw Allison on a double bill with another piano-playing singer-songwriter, Anna Dagmar, the night before Vienna's show, and got a chance to have a nice chat with both of them at the merch table (and of course got a couple of CD's signed). Each is definitely worth a listen if she comes your way; they are both NYC-based and do the usual Northeast small venue circuit. I think Anna has toured more extensively & she's a bit more prolific in the CD department too. Allison is working on a fan-funded EP, and I got in on that. They are different in style as well, with Anna the more restrained and folk influenced, while Allison is definitely into jazz (plays jazz piano in someone else's band in addition to her solo work). Check 'em out if you get the chance.

[Fred]

Two nights ago I went to Allison's CD release party for the product referred to above, Sweet and Vicious, at Sullivan Hall in the Village. She has great new material and sounded fantastic. I'm really looking forward to getting my fan-funder bonuses in the mail (2 signed copies of the disc and a handwritten haiku, who knows why). I got another nice bonus in the process. Anna Dagmar came up to the bar where I was sitting solo, to order a drink. I had seen her once more since the show described above and had talked with her a bit, so I re-introduced myself and she invited me to join the other members of her and Allisons's songwriters circle to watch the show -- Sharon Goldman, Meg Braun, and Carolann Solebello, the ex-member of Red Molly who pulled out of the group for family reasons when they went national. All of them were just back from Falcon Ridge, where they are part of the establishment -- the festival was last weekend. [Correction: Carolann skipped the fest this year.] Fascinating to meet so many great musicians quite unexpectedly.

The following night, when I went to Carolann's CD-release show at The Living Room on the Lower East Side, I got to say hi to all of them all over again (except Anna, who was doing a gig in Virginia), and meet a few more, including Pat Wictor, whom I'd seen a couple of times this year (solo and in the trio Brother Sun) and thought was fantastic. Probably half or more of the audience were musicians. BTW Carolann's new CD, Threshold, also is fantastic, as was her show. After spending a few years going to a lot of of coffee houses and getting to know who is who among New York folkies, this experience made me start to feel a real bond with that community. Need to cement that by going to Falcon Ridge next year. Concert buddy Marcie wants to, so...

[Fred]

[accidental re-post, deleted]